Tried but failed

Sanji and Liam realized that they shouldn't be sitting down, drinking tea. Just when they stood up, the Den Den Mushi started ringing. This surprised both of them.

But, Liam was only showing that expression so that Sanji won't doubt himself. After living with them for a month, Liam had the feeling that he should get a lead role in some of the top-class movies.

Because he had been acting the entire time. Acting surprised, acting innocent, acting knowledgeable, he had done different kinds of acting in Straw Hat ship.

But at this moment, he didn't act for long. He went near the Den-Den Mushi and picked it up.

"Hello! Who is speaking?" Liam asked.

"It's me. Mr.0. Mr.3, did you finish the task of killing those pirates?" Crocodile asked.

When he asked that, Liam took a deep breath and spoke.

"Oh! Are you talking about the guy with the wax powers? He has already been defeated by my captain."

Suddenly, the Den-Den Mushi remained silent while Sanji opened his eyes wide. He was just about to say something when he noticed a bird and an animal entering the wax house.

"It seems like I've underestimated you. Are you coming for my head?" Crocodile asked like he was mocking him.

"No, no, my captain is coming for your head, not me. By the way, I found that Nico Robin is with you and you are also in Alabasta. You aren't trying to make her read the poneglyph, are you?" Liam asked.

The Den-Den Mushi turned silent for a moment once again and an angry tone rang from it.

"Who are you? How do you know about Poneglyph?"

Liam slowly smirked and said "I was an informant in the new world before I became the pirates. Are you seriously going for Poneglyph? Could it be that the governments aren't monitoring you?"

"New World? Why would a person from New World come into the East Blue to become a pirate of a small crew? Are you mocking my intelligence?" Crocodile asked.

"Then, why did a person who once tried to kill whitebeard come to Paradise to hide? Don't tell me you are also behind one of them. Is it really in Alabasta? I think Yonko would be very interested in this matter, don't you think?" Liam continued to smirk as he asked.

He had one specific purpose for this conversation.

Crocodile remained silent for a moment and asked "You aren't an ordinary person, are you? If you know so much about them, you must truly be someone from New World. Do you plan to interfere in my business?"

"Actually, I don't really care. As I said before, even if you do get the information about those things, Government won't stand still and let you get it. Don't tell me you forgot the existence of CP 0 and their intelligence network." Liam continued to pressurize crocodile.

The more he talks about any lead, the more pressure crocodile felt. In his room, crocodile was fuming with anger. After a long time, he calmed down and asked.

"What do you want?"

"Now, you are talking. Tch! I can't believe you managed to hide Nico Robin with you. I truly don't understand whether the governments are idiots or you are too smart." Liam didn't expose his intention instead tried to praise crocodile to make him feel a bit better.

"Tell me, what do you want?" Crocodile on other hand immediately saw through his intention and asked.

"Alright, alright, don't get hasty. I am not interested in your plan or whatever you plan to do. But, I truly hate the way you are doing it. In fact, you and Doflamingo are only two people who despite being quite evil are actually very smart." Liam continued to praise him.

After all, he wasn't just going to tell what he wanted without pressurizing him even more.

"Evil? You are a pirate yourself. Don't think of yourself as saints. And, tell me, what the fuck do you want?" Crocodile once again started losing his calmness as he spoke.

"Of course, we aren't saints but we aren't cowards either. At least, we are pirates who won't drop anchor at a certain place and settle. You are a disgrace in the name of pirates."

"Oh! I almost forget you are not a disgrace. You are just a dog of marines. Hahahaha!" At this moment, Liam was truly laughing out loud. His laughter made Sanji confused.

On other hand, Crocodile was so mad that he almost threw away the Den-Den Mushi. But, Robin stopped him and told him.

"We still don't know what he wants. If he relied on this information to others, it would be harder for you."

Crocodile calmed down hearing that. He gritted his teeth and asked, "Just tell me what do you want."

"Alright! Alright! Don't get upset about calling you a dog. What I want is simple. I don't want you to give me information about that weapon. I don't want you to abandon your plan. I don't want you to leave Alabasta."

"What I want is to fix the mess you created for Vivi. If I am not wrong, one of your officers has the power to impersonate others. I don't know his position but since he wasn't with these losers, he must be in a higher rank."

"Within a week, we will reach Alabasta. Within a week, I want your officer to do anything he can to stop the rebels, but without killing them. If I don't hear the newspaper of Alabasta's politics calming down, I will simply tell everything you are doing to Government and Pirates."

"Your life is nothing valuable. But the miss next to you has a lot of value. In fact, a hundred of you can't be compared to one of her. So, if I rely on this information from those two pirates, their commanders will be at your doorstep the next day."

"As I said before, I don't need you to leave the Alabasta. Let's have a pirate battle. Your crew versus our crew. The winner gets Alabasta." Liam finally revealed his intention.

Hearing his words, Crocodile's veins popped out as he said.

"You want me to give up everything I developed after so much work? Fuck off!"

"Hey, hey, hey! You are getting a bit violent. Don't you care if the world knows about your plan?" Liam asked.

"Humph! Do you take me as a fool? Do you really think they will simply believe you? And, what would you get by that? Your plan is to stop the civil war, isn't it?"

"Then, I will not let you get what you want. Before you reach Alabasta, this country will fall."

Click!

Liam's expression turned green when he heard that. His blood was boiling with anger.

Sanji placed his hand on Liam's shoulder and shook his head.

"It's not your fault. You tried to help Vivi but it seemed like we underestimated our enemy."

Liam sighed. He really wanted to help Vivi. He didn't want the bloodshed to occur in Alabasta. But, it seemed like his plan backfired and now they have even less time.

But, then again, he calmed down thinking that even if Crocodile wanted to speed up, it's not like he can do it instantly. He would still need rebels to attack the palace before he could make a move.

"Don't think too much! Look what I've found." Sanji sighed and showed him the Eternal Pose to Alabasta.

Seeing this, a big smile appeared on Liam's face as he nodded his head.

"Yes, let's leave. We need to catch up with others."

Sanji nodded and they rushed out of the wax's hideout. While running, Sanji turned his head and asked "Can you explain what do you mean by winner gets Alabasta? I somehow get the feeling that you wanted to get it for yourself or rather for our crew."

Liam nodded his head and said "In the future, we would need to compete for the territory if we want to help Luffy become the Pirate King. Although Alabasta is under world government right now, we can still privately claim it."

"Alabasta is under the civil war because of the warlord. Warlords are the pirates hired by the world government which means King of the Alabasta would trust us more than he would trust the World Government if we help Alabasta."

At this moment, Sanji's eyes shrunk as he asked "Wait, you didn't plan this talk with Mr. 0 so that you can intensify the civil war, right?"

Liam rolled his eyes and said "Of course not! I might not be a good person but I am not an evil person. I truly wanted to help Alabasta and gain Vivi's trust. After all, Vivi is the next Queen of Alabasta. King doesn't have any son."

Sanji heavily sighed a breath of relief but his eyebrows twitched.

"You don't plan to marry vivi, right? Bastard, you already have Nami and you still want Vivi. I don't agree with you."

His eyes were burning in flames when he looked at Liam.

Bam!

Liam punched his head and said "Idiot! If I think of marrying Vivi, Nami will kill me. But, I don't think Nami truly has feelings for me. She hasn't even proposed to me."

Suddenly, Sanji gave him a kick on his head and shouted.

"YOU JEALOUSY-CREATING BASTARD."